httpd ServerType: standalone vs inetd mode?

[michaelsanford]

On line 52 of httpd.conf, at the ServerType directive, there is a choice between using inetd or running httpd standalone.

What are the advantages of the two, other than centralizing services?

If I run httpd with inetd, will I still be able to de/activate it with the Sharing preference panel?

TIA

 

[lurk]

You really don't want to run it from inetd because you will have to startup a new apache process for every connection. And remember every image and such in a web page is a new connection. It is just a way to make your machine server fewer pages with a higher load

-Eric

 

[Gimpy00Wang]

In most situations, you will want to run Apache in standalone mode. Very few situations will warrant running it through inetd and even then, you can likely find a better solution. One possible application of running Apache through inetd would be if you were going to use tcp_wrappers for controlling access or if you were going to play with virtual servers (chroot/jail) and have connections "twist" into the chrooted or jailed environments. I'm not sure if osx has support for jail (maybe since it's dirived from FreeBSD). So, to put it simply, you should never have to run Apache in anything other than standalone mode...

- G!mpy